A recent study conducted in Kingston has revealed possible reasons behind the escalating demand for pediatric urgent care in the city.
The research was led by Dr. Daniel Mulder, a pediatrician at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC), using urgent care data from KHSC’s Children’s Outpatient Clinic (COPC).
“While we had some initial theories, the study has given us a clearer picture of what’s driving the demand. We’re seeing more patients with infectious diseases, longer visit durations, and an increasing number of children without primary care access. In the past, about 1 in 20 pediatric patients did not have access to primary care and that has increased to about 1 in 13 in 2022,” explains Dr. Mulder in a release from KHSC.
While this study focused on data from Kingston, Dr. Mulder and his research team plan to expand their research to include Ontario and Canada-wide data in the future. The study can be accessed in the PLOS Digital Health Journal. The article was published on August 22, 2024.
